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Emotional Bode Miller makes history with super-G medal

Amid growing concerns that the U.S. ski team might have a horrible Winter Olympics, a former Olympic medalist who had become a forgotten man in ski racing had a brilliant resurgence, and the old man of the mountain, Bode Miller, had one more classic stand.

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Even though I didn't ski my best %u2014 a lot of mistakes %u2014 I'm just super, super happy"

Weibrecht adds a silver to the bronze he won in Vancouver

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Perhaps Bode Miller had never focused so much on the results — the medals — as he had at these Sochi Olympics.

He had spent a career saying he raced on skis in search of excellence, of a certain feel, not for trophies.

And then there he was in the start hut, 36 years old, about to kick out and throw himself down a treacherously steep, turny course in a race that quite possibly would be his last chance at another Olympic medal that, for a lot of reasons, would mean so much.

"If it's not the most important race of my life, it's right there with it," Miller said. "I had a lot to show."

That he showed it with his skiing, and that he uncharacteristically showed so much emotion after the race, will make this day in Russia's Caucasus Mountains a memorable day both for Miller and those who have followed his mercurial career.

He reached milestones and extended records with his super-G bronze medal Sunday, and though he has shrugged at such things in the past, this time they seemed to mean an awful lot to him.

The old man of the mountain had made one last stand, and he was proud of it.

"My wife and I were making some jokes," he said hours after the race, "about making some trophies for the weird, crazy records I have. This is going to be a great one. I'm going to have a picture of me with a great white beard on, with a cane maybe, all crinkly and old, a bunch of medals."

Miller became emotional in the finish area after his race. He said later that he had been thinking about his brother, Chelone, who died at age 29 last April of an apparent seizure thought to be related to the traumatic brain injury he sustained in a motorcycle accident in 2005. He tweeted shortly after the race: "Thanks for all the support, today was one of the most emotional days of my life. I miss my brother."

Thanks for all the support, today was one of the most emotional days of my life. I miss my brother.

Miller's bronze medal, and teammate Andrew Weibrecht's stunning silver, came as concerns grew that the U.S. ski team might have a horrible Olympics and that its biggest star is a has-been.

But Miller, who sat out all of last season recovering from knee surgery, hadn't won a race in more than two years and had bombed out in Sochi in the downhill and super-combined, roared down the mountain at Rosa Khutor alpine center with reckless abandon, nearly losing control, risking all, just barely keeping it together enough to make it to the finish line.

It was the kind of aggressive style that had produced five Olympic medals, five world championship medals, 33 World Cup victories and two overall World Cup titles.

And on Sunday it produced Miller's sixth Olympic medal, a record for U.S. skiers.

He finished tied with Canada's Jan Hudec, who also got a bronze medal, trailing only gold medalist Kjetil Jansrud of Norway and Weibrecht.

"I put in a lot of work," Miller said. "This was a really hard year. It was a lot of effort coming back to get fit and get ready and just battle through what life throws at you sometimes. To come out and ski hard, it is almost therapeutic for me to be in these situations where I really have to test myself."

Miller won two medals at age 24 in Salt Lake City. At age 28 and a heavy favorite in multiple events in Torino, he was shut out of the medals, created one negative distraction after another with his late-night carousing in Sestriere and offered up a quote that haunted him: "I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level."

At age 32, he made headlines only on the race hill at the Vancouver Games, winning gold (super-combined), silver (super-G) and bronze (downhill).

Now, at age 36, he has become the oldest alpine skier to win an Olympic medal, coming full cycle from the brash, enigmatic young skier he was in Salt Lake City to the brash, enigmatic old skier he is today.

"To be on the podium, this is a really big day for me," Miller said. "Emotionally, I had a lot riding on it. Even though I didn't ski my best — a lot of mistakes — I'm just super, super happy.

"I always feel like I'm capable of winning medals. But as you've seen in these Olympics, it's not that easy. On a given day, there are so many guys."

Miller reacts after his run in the men's downhill during the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Miller failed to medal after being among the fastest skiers on the course during practice runs.
Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Sports

Miller receives his silver medal in the men's combined race in alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Games . Miller came in second to Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway who won the gold. Benjamin Raich of Austria won the bronze.
Carmen Troesser, USA TODAY

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Known (after Torino) as an Olympic flop, Miller is now behind only Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt, who had eight, in OIympic alpine medals, and he tied speedskater Bonnie Blair for second place behind short-track skater Apolo Ohno (eight) for the most medals among all U.S. Winter Olympians.

The tie between Miller and Hudec was the second medal tie at these Games, and the sixth in Olympic alpine history. Tina Maze of Slovenia and Dominique Gisin of Switzerland tied for the gold medal Wednesday in the women's downhill.

Miller won a silver medal in this event, just ahead of Weibrecht, in Vancouver in 2010, finishing behind Norwegian gold medalist Aksel Lund Svindal, who was seventh Sunday.

Weibrecht, 28, of Lake Placid, N.Y., who in the years after his medal in Vancouver had shoulder and ankle operations and thought he might lose his funding from the U.S. team because his results were so bad, captured Olympic magic once again.

Weibrecht, who discussed possibly retiring after this season in an interview with USA TODAY Sports before the season began, has never been on the podium (top three) in a World Cup race. He has two podiums in his career – the two Olympic medals.

How does that happen?

(Photo: Rob Schumacher, USA TODAY Sports)

"There's so much energy here," said Weibrecht, nicknamed "Warhorse" because of his reckless, go-for-it style, and also because he's crashed a lot. "I knew I had skied well. I knew I had a good run. When I came to the finish, I just sort of appreciated my run. I took a couple of seconds to see the time. I saw '2,' then I looked away, and then I looked again.

"It's been a rough couple of years. This makes up for it."

Weibrecht shares a ski technician with Miller – Chris Krause – and raced Sunday on an old pair of Miller's skis.

Miller said he knew Weibrecht had it in him.

"With the intensity he has and the athletic ability he has on his skis, I can't say I'm surprised," Miller said. "I was on the podium with him last time, and I was lucky to have snuck ahead of him last time. He got me this time."

Ted Ligety, who won the world championship super-G last year, had a fast run going until he made a huge mistake that cost him too much time, and he finished 14th.

The U.S. ski team had won just one medal — Julia Mancuso's bronze in super-combined — in the first five races of these Games, a far cry from its performance in Vancouver, when it won an astounding seven medals, on the way to a record total of eight, in the first five races.

"The Games aren't over yet," U.S. ski team alpine director Patrick Riml had said in response to questions about the team's performance.

On Sunday, in the sixth of 10 Sochi races, the old man and a forgotten man echoed that.